OEM+ radio build, 2008 standard cab

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My first Ranger I tapped the rear speakers for high level input to an amp and stuffed a box with two 12” subs hooked to my stock radio for years until I eventually blew out the subs and then someone stole my amp. Worked great but I had a car sub box stuffed in the extended cab which pretty much made that space useless.

In more recent history I’ve built a couple custom sub boxes and a center console out of 3/4” 7-ply B-C sanded plywood. Glued all the joints on the boxes with Locktite 3x construction adhesive and screwed them together with countersunk Spax brand construction screws (they are essentially a grade 5 screw and not brittle like drywall screws).

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Nice! So you made a center console sub box? I like your overkill construction method.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Nice! So you made a center console sub box? I like your overkill construction method.

I sunk a pair of 6.5” speakers into the center console but no subs in that.

Built one sub box for a single 12” sub for an extended cab truck, sits on the ledge in the back of the cab and still allows one rear seat to be used. Also built a double 12” box that sits on the ledge in the back of an extended cab. Have to see if I can find some pics.

I’m not a fan of MDF at all. It’s heavy, it’s somewhat brittle, and whatever you do, don’t get it wet. The plywood boxes I built are lighter than an equivalent MDF box and stronger.

I was a little concerned about acoustics by going to plywood because everyone builds boxes out of MDF. I know that like subfloor rated plywood can have voids and stuff in the layers, but a quality 7-layer sanded ply will typically be pretty solid. My concern over acoustics was ended when I started running my random orbital sander on the first box and heard the sound produced. IIRC they worked out to about 1.4 cubic foot of airspace per sub.

Bungee cords were just temporary to test things out before finishing and bolting down.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

...not a fan of MDF at all. It’s heavy, it’s somewhat brittle, and whatever you do, don’t get it wet. The plywood boxes I built are lighter than an equivalent MDF box and stronger.

I was a little concerned about acoustics by going to plywood because everyone builds boxes out of MDF. I know that like subfloor rated plywood can have voids and stuff in the layers, but a quality 7-layer sanded ply will typically be pretty solid.

Yeah, I thought about that and after watching a couple (hundred ) of SoundMan Car Audio videos, I'm pretty much sold on finding a good ply.

Now the question becomes, how to secure it to the back wall? Any mounting solution that permeates the back wall is a no-go. I've thought about riv-nuts. I've got several of those. The biggest thing is, the finished product needs to look factory or close, and the back window must be isolated from any vibration to keep the seal from failing and thus leaking.

 

[cmcolfax]

Subwoofer, and AI badge replacement mock-up:View attachment 140330View attachment 140333

Heh. I have the same sub in my Ranger.
Right now it's on the floor behind the passenger seat.
I pulled the jump seats out and am building a platform where they were.
Im going to mount a lock box for my pew pew under the platform behind the driver seat.
I kinda like the idea of the sub vertical on the rear can wall, I'm not sure I left myself enough wire to move it tho.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Heh. I have the same sub in my Ranger.
Right now it's on the floor behind the passenger seat.
I pulled the jump seats out and am building a platform where they were.
Im going to mount a lock box for my pew pew under the platform behind the driver seat.
I kinda like the idea of the sub vertical on the rear can wall, I'm not sure I left myself enough wire to move it tho.

You could patch in pretty easily with some self-soldering connectors.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, I thought about that and after watching a couple (hundred ) of SoundMan Car Audio videos, I'm pretty much sold on finding a good ply.

Now the question becomes, how to secure it to the back wall? Any mounting solution that permeates the back wall is a no-go. I've thought about riv-nuts. I've got several of those. The biggest thing is, the finished product needs to look factory or close, and the back window must be isolated from any vibration to keep the seal from failing and thus leaking.

So under the trim on the back wall are some mounting points and stuff and with the 3rd door extended cab the rear seats are bolted to that ledge in the back of the cab so you can bolt to the rear wall mounting points and the bottom. I don’t have any pictures though. Rivnuts might be needed on the back wall mounting points, don’t remember at the moment. Put the bolts in from inside the box through the holes for the subs. I never decided how exactly to handle the trim situation around it. Was working with a buddy on it and both of us had health problems so everything ground to a halt.

You will find 3/4” ply in 5-layer and 7-layer typically. I went with a 7-layer B-C sanded because it got the quality I was after without being stupid expensive (try pricing out A-C or finish grade plywood and you’ll see what I mean). I got my plywood from a lumber yard, NOT a big box store.

The double box is a 2-chamber. I did a double layer of 3/4” plywood between the chambers for isolation. Not sure that was necessary but it’s what I did. Thought about poly filling the box but that’s something else that hasn’t been tried yet.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You could patch in pretty easily with some self-soldering connectors.

For the power wires it would have to be a clamp connection.

Heh. I have the same sub in my Ranger.
Right now it's on the floor behind the passenger seat.
I pulled the jump seats out and am building a platform where they were.
Im going to mount a lock box for my pew pew under the platform behind the driver seat.
I kinda like the idea of the sub vertical on the rear can wall, I'm not sure I left myself enough wire to move it tho.

I thought about trying to do a floor box and so did my buddy but we decided we wanted to try and keep the floor space as clear as possible. I have kicked around the idea of building a sort of platform/storage space on the floor but never got around to experimenting.

I’ve actually built power distribution into my one Ranger and may start doing it to other rigs. In the Ranger I ran 1/0 cable into the center console and then splitting to individual circuits. Not happy with the original setup so I’m doing things a little different when I get back to working on it and I’ll be documenting things a bit on my YouTube channel.

 

[ISX_15]

For the power wires it would have to be a clamp connection.


I thought about trying to do a floor box and so did my buddy but we decided we wanted to try and keep the floor space as clear as possible. I have kicked around the idea of building a sort of platform/storage space on the floor but never got around to experimenting.

I’ve actually built power distribution into my one Ranger and may start doing it to other rigs. In the Ranger I ran 1/0 cable into the center console and then splitting to individual circuits. Not happy with the original setup so I’m doing things a little different when I get back to working on it and I’ll be documenting things a bit on my YouTube channel.

L3 Audio makes some really affordable and nice distro blocks. If you need one side of the block linked, the company should be able to do that

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

For the power wires it would have to be a clamp connection.

So, these?